Chapter 376: Kalasutra of the Kalasutra (The Black Rope Hell of Assembly)
On the mountain situated between Shitoki Castle and the village where Shirou and the others were staying, a tall and a short figure stood on the high ground, gazing down below.
The petite woman, holding a precious gourd in her hand, spoke up: "That child left rather decisively, didn't she? It's just like how a fire that burns too intensely quickly burns itself out. One moment she went completely berserk, unable to tell friend from foe, and the next she just gave up on her own accord. I really don't know what to say about her. Well, though I suppose the current me doesn't have the right to criticize her either."
"For a fellow who doesn't want to fight, leaving this hellish world isn't a bad thing," the tall woman said in a cold voice. Although Tomoe Gozen's husband, Kiso Yoshinaka, was also a member of the Minamoto clan, her natural paranoia and refusal to condone non-human, heterogeneous races meant she harbored no goodwill toward any foreign species.
Kiso Yoshinaka, also known as Minamoto no Yoshinaka and by his childhood name Komawamaru, was a cousin sharing the same grandfather with Minamoto no Yoshitsune (Ushiwakamaru) and Minamoto no Yoritomo (Onimusha), the first Shogun of the Shogunate.
However, Ushiwakamaru's father, Minamoto no Yoshitomo, fought for family power against Yoshinaka's father, Minamoto no Yoshikata. As a result, Yoshinaka's father, Yoshikata, was ambushed by troops led by Ushiwakamaru's eldest brother, Minamoto no Yoshihira, and his entire family was killed. Only the two-year-old Yoshinaka was carried out by a retainer and escaped into the mountains.
After that, Minamoto no Yoshitomo went so far as to personally execute his own father—Yoshinaka's grandfather—and became the universally recognized leader of the Kawachi Minamoto clan.
Not many years later, Minamoto no Yoshitomo also launched a political war and failed to seize power. Branded as a rebel by the Taira clan, he was killed during his escape. From then on, the Taira clan wielded absolute power across the court, heavily trending toward controlling the Emperor to command the feudal lords.
Minamoto no Yoshitomo's eldest son, Yoshihira, died in this battle, and most of the other direct descendants were ordered to commit suicide. Ushiwakamaru escaped death due to his young age and was placed in a temple once he grew a bit older. At that time, the 13-year-old Minamoto no Yoritomo was exiled and placed under house arrest by the Hojo family.
Whether it was Yoshinaka's side or Ushiwakamaru and Minamoto no Yoritomo's side, their past experiences were incredibly tragic, with both families broken and lives lost. Later, Minamoto no Yoritomo's daughter even married Kiso Yoshinaka's son; the relationship between the two families could be described as a tangled mess that defied clear sorting or understanding.
Later during the Genpei War, Kiso Yoshinaka, in his twenties, was the first to charge into Kyoto and rescue the imperial family. Consequently, he was heavily rewarded and put into important positions, and his momentum even briefly eclipsed that of Minamoto no Yoritomo, the commander of the Minamoto clan.
However, having grown up in the mountains since childhood, Kiso Yoshinaka was a pure martial artist. Although he had studied military strategy, he did not understand the social etiquette of the Kyoto nobility, nor was he well-versed in political administration. His relationships with the noble faction gradually soured, and he was ultimately abandoned by the imperial court nobility.
Yoshinaka held the Retired Emperor hostage, attempting to use the strategy of controlling the Emperor to command the lords, but he could not win public obedience and ended up acting like Dong Zhuo. Thus, the Emperor on the other side reinstated Minamoto no Yoritomo to launch a punitive expedition against Yoshinaka.
Yoshinaka was no match for Yoritomo and was slain on the battlefield. Minamoto no Yoritomo, a great anti-hero of his generation, gained power and rose up because of this, wiping out the remnants of the Taira clan, unifying the warlord-fractured Wa country, and monopolizing immense achievements. He then suppressed other meritorious officials, drove Ushiwakamaru to his death, stabilized his rule, and inaugurated the first Kamakura Shogunate...
At this very moment, the rulers of this island nation belonged to the third-generation Edo Shogunate, yet the saying still remained that the Shogun who opens the world must belong to the Minamoto clan.
Of course, none of this amounted to anything in the eyes of the tall woman. Even if these later generations of the Minamoto clan could be considered her descendants—at least in name—it mattered little.
These descendants, who had long since lost loyalty, righteousness, and benevolence, and only knew how to slaughter and flaunt their brutality, would not be missed at all even if they were destroyed. Their status in her heart was perhaps less important than Atsu and Tasuke, whom she was currently holding in her arms as they fell into a deep sleep.
"There are still two hours until midnight. Miyamoto Musashi and Chaldea's Master should have rushed over by now, right?" the short, horned girl said in a low, ghostly voice.
"Yes. Tonight is the day to finish them off and turn this world into hell."
The petite woman sized up the two children cradled in the other woman's arms and said with a malicious, wicked smile: "Oh my, saying it like that, could it be that you'd actually be able to bring yourself to do it? Why don't I take care of them for you instead? So small, with such fair and tender skin. Even though they are peasants' children, they have great complexions; it
seems they received very good care every day. The flavor of their brains seems like it would be quite delicious."
"This body is already a fallen entity laden with heavy sins, and this world is the hell we have sworn to turn it into. The human lives taken by my hands already number over ten thousand, so how could I possibly possess any mercy? However... insect! If you dare lay a finger on my prey, I will sever your head right here and now!" The Heroic Spirit , Minamoto no Raikou, glared at the horned Oni girl, releasing a hair-raising killing intent.
She was serious. Rather, given the influence of her state as a Heroic Spirit , the fact that she hadn't struck until now was what was truly incredible.
Regarding this, her old rival, the Heroic Spirit Shuten-Douji, naturally harbored no doubts either. As far as hating the opponent went, having been killed once before, she was the one with the deeper resentment.
However, slaughtering to one's heart's content, drinking to one's heart's content, singing merrily to one's heart's content, making love to one's heart's content, indulging to one's heart's content, and enjoying life to one's heart's content—even being killed was something to derive pleasure from. This was the way of being for an 'Oni', a non-human monster.
She laughed softly and waved her hands repeatedly, saying: "Alright, alright, I was just joking. But will you really, truly make your move? Your love for children doesn't belong to something like goodwill; rather, it is a type of paranoia, madness, or should I say, a morbid fixation. But the current you claims you want to kill children and such. Could it be that your eyes will be bleeding tears as you kill people, regretting and suffering on one hand while loathing and cursing yourself on the other? If I could see that ridiculous appearance, just imagining it makes me laugh out loud; it really is quite intriguing," the petite woman giggled with schadenfreude.
"Ah, yes, I will deal with them! But for now, they are important hostages. You stay here and wait for Musashi and Chaldea's Master. I am taking the children up to the mountain summit," the tall female general said with a somber face.
"I got it, you really can't take a joke at all," the petite woman agreed in a cynical, irreverent tone.
Minamoto no Raikou walked up the mountain holding the children. There was a desolate, ruined temple up there, and she gently placed the children onto a pile of thatch. Her hand then pressed against the hilt of the sword resting at her waist.
They were not Heroic Spirits, nor vengeful spirits, nor wraiths; they were merely monsters using endless slaughter to carve open the gates of hell, weapons dragging the remnants left in this world by Heroic Spirits to perform acts of slaughter.
Before being summoned, she had already been subjected to a technique that tampered with her Saint Graph. Among the seven Heroic Spirit s, the Caster was the top-tier Onmyouji in all
of Wa country's history. He possessed very bizarre techniques, to the point where she was unable to resist, and everything was already a foregone conclusion.
Her Saint Graph had been altered into an ugly form, burdened with the karma of slaughtering everything. Upon seeing humans, she was to kill them—this was the command given by the Sorcerer who summoned her into this world. Not even possessing the right to make her own decisions, a so-called Heroic Spirit was such a pitiful existence.
The purpose of the hostages had already been served. At this point, no matter what, Miyamoto Musashi and Chaldea's Master would rush to this location, and what followed would simply be a fight to the death. Therefore, these two children were no longer of any use. Keeping them around was nothing but a burden; killing them might very well be the first priority.
In fact, waiting until they were before the battle lines to make the opponent second-guess the life and death of the hostages, leaving their minds unsettled, would be the superior tactic. Tens of thousands of people had already been killed, so one or two right now was truly nothing to care about.
At this moment, the little girl woke up.
"Band... Bandits? Grandpa... Is Atsu going to die here? To be killed just like Mommy and Daddy..." Atsu looked at the cold female warrior before her eyes. The woman was holding a samurai sword, which made her feel terrified. Tears couldn't stop flowing out. Even so, she held back from crying out loud, and instead pulled her younger brother, Tasuke, behind her own back.
"..." Minamoto no Raikou had been summoned into this world as a Rider. When she gained the ability to act autonomously, the very first thing she did was kill her beloved horse. This was because she truly did not want it to accompany her, struggling in agony within such karma. This world was a hell, and it was becoming even more cruel through their hands; for children, dying might perhaps be the true liberation.
"Please don't kill Tasuke. Tasuke is still very small and doesn't know anything yet. He hasn't even tasted the crunching flavor of biting into candy apples, so... so..." Although the girl was terrified, she still tried her best to use her small body to shield her infant brother behind her.
The expressionless female general walked in front of the girl and silently raised the sword in her hand...
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.
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Setting out from the castle town, Shirou, Gudako, and Musashi rushed toward the mountain mentioned in the letter left behind by the Heroic Spirit s, while Illya stayed behind with Tamamo-no-Mae to search for a method to deal with Yamata no Orochi.
"Gudako, can you keep up? Otherwise, let me carry you on my back as I run," Shirou asked, looking at the girl.
"No! I can do it! Shirou-senpai, you should save your physical strength for the battle!" Gudako shook her head and spoke resolutely. Although she had broken quite a sweat, she worked very hard to keep up with Shirou and Musashi's traveling pace.
"Yeah. But Shuten and Raikou... I just can't understand no matter what, why did they turn out like this?" Gudako said dejectedly. Although they in this world ought to share the same soul and be the most similar versions of their alternative selves, it still made her feel very sad.
"Heroic Spirit s, turning proud Heroic Spirits into demoniac monsters that massacre civilians..." Musashi said, pondering aloud. She more or less already had a premonition that perhaps this world would be her very last chance to find her own way of the sword.
She wanted to surpass her father—that way of the sword heralded as 'Peerless'. That was the ultimate 'One'; anything possessing form could not escape the outcome of being severed by a single strike.
If she were to surpass this 'One', then she must comprehend the swordplay of 'Void'—a 'Void' that could sever even formless things.
In the past, she had drifted from one world to another, honing her sword skills, yet she had still made no progress along this path. And the Heroic Spirit s were unprecedentedly terrifying opponents whom she had never encountered before.
'If I can fight against these monsters and survive, I will probably attain sublimation, right? No... even if I fail to attain my ideal 'Void', I suppose I will still be able to find closure.' The pink-haired female swordsman thought silently to herself.
Through shared memories with the white god, Shirou possessed knowledge regarding Evils of Humanity. Forcibly modifying a Servant's Saint Graph was an authority possessed by Beasts. It belonged to high-level Magecraft of imaginary numbers, and had even touched upon the domain of the Third Magic, the Materialization of the Soul; it was an act of tampering with the soul.
For instance, the black mud of Tiamat, or in a certain world line, Sakura, who had laid hands on the Holy Grail and been contaminated by the All the World's Evil, possessed similar power.
Perhaps there were also some powerful and mysterious entities who mastered similar techniques. Satan, the mastermind behind the scenes whom the Heroic Spirit s kept talking about wanting to achieve hell for, as well as the Demon God Pillars hiding in the dark whose exact remaining numbers were unknown... and those incomparably powerful divine spirits within various pantheons.
The Evils of Humanity were evils caused by the very nature of humans. As long as humans existed, they were an unavoidable presence, and at the same time, they were evils that humanity must overcome. Otherwise, humanity would have no future.
"In any case! We must rescue Atsu and Tasuke!" Shirou said firmly.
"Mm! Of course!" Gudako agreed resolutely. She gritted her teeth, trying her best to keep up with Shirou's fast pace; fortunately, her legs had gone through multiple training sessions.
Meanwhile, behind the scenes where no one knew.
On the battlefield where Musashi and Gudako had fought the silver-haired female warrior, a woman with long black hair and golden vertical pupils quietly and soundlessly arrived at the scorched battlefield burned by flames. Behind her followed a red-haired youth dressed in ninja attire.
"Don't leave, my child. Come back, I still have important matters for you to attend to."
The black smoke rising from the fires, which originally should have dissolved into granular crystals as the Heroic Spirit departed from this world, was once again recalled back here.
Being able to make a completely dissolved Servant alter their nature and resurrect anew was undoubtedly a power at the level of a Chief God.
At this very moment, the resurrected Servant's Saint Graph underwent a transformation; she was no longer affected by any karma of total slaughter, though her Saint Graph had experienced a new change. It was different from a Servant in their normal state.
The silver-haired female warrior of the Oni race crouched down, kneeling on one knee. Her long, sharp black horns remained, but her eyes had changed from a completely solid blood-red color across the sclera and eyeballs to mysterious, golden vertical pupils.
"Rise. I have important matters to request your assistance with. First is to reclaim my physical body!" the black-haired young woman said in a deep voice.
"Yes, Ancestor..." Tomoe Gozen complied, stepping behind the black-haired woman.
"I will definitely do my utmost to assist you!" the red-haired boy also agreed respectfully.
"Very good! As expected of my descendants! Let us go!" the black-haired young woman said, walking forward.
When the three gathered into a line and stood together, it could be seen that the eyes of these three individuals were all exactly the same.
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